Contents

2: Understanding food poverty

2.1 What is the Scale and Nature of the
Problem?

At present the information regularly published by the Trussell
Trust is most commonly cited when discussing food insecurity. In
Scotland 14,318 referrals were made for men, women and children in
2012/13, rising to 71,428 in 2013/14 and 117,689 in 2014/15. Most
recent figures show that 133,726 referrals were made in 2015/16 -
including 43,962 for children - to access a three-day supply of
emergency food.
[2]

These numbers, however, are likely to significantly
underestimate the scale of the problem of food insecurity. While
the Trussell Trust is the largest foodbank provider, a substantial
proportion of charitable emergency food in Scotland comes from
other providers.
[3]

We also know that many who struggle to afford food will not, for
various reasons, access a foodbank.
[4] Indeed international evidence demonstrates the majority of
people experiencing food insecurity do not access foodbanks.
[5] This is likely to be the case in Scotland too.

In the absence of a systematic measure of food insecurity in
Scotland, studies which identify levels of household expenditure on
food have been used to suggest how far families may have difficulty
affording food.

The 2012 Living Costs and Food Survey identified that households
in Scotland living in relative poverty spent 23% of their weekly
income on food which, though less in absolute terms,
[6] was more than twice the proportion spent by better off
households.

Sixteen per cent of the Scottish population are identified as
living in relative poverty, and 10% in extreme poverty after
housing costs,
[7] so we believe that far more people experience food
insecurity, including hunger, than the number using foodbanks.

If we are to tackle food insecurity we need to understand the
scale of the problem including the numbers of people who are using
foodbanks, why they are doing so, and how often. We also need to
have a deeper understanding of why people choose not to access
emergency food provision or are unable to do so.

Levels of food insecurity in the
UK in 2014

A recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (
FAO)
of the United Nations
[8] for the first time has measured household food insecurity
across 140 countries. This used the same set of eight questions to
ask people about their ability to get enough food in the past
year.

Food insecurity has varying degrees of severity. Early stages
involve worry about whether there will be enough food, followed by
compromising quality, variety and quantity of food. Going without
food and experiencing hunger are the most severe stages.

In the
UK, 1,000 people were
interviewed by telephone or mobile phone. The data show that 10.1%
of people aged 15 or over in the
UK were moderately food
insecure in 2014. This means they reported experiencing a struggle
to get enough food to eat.

Of these people, 4.5% experienced a severe level of food
insecurity, typically having gone a whole day without eating at
times during the year because they could not afford enough
food.

This puts the
UK in the bottom half of
European nations, though we are one of Europe's richer nations.
There are no comparable sources to determine if and how the
situation has changed over recent years. The situation in Scotland
is likely to be similar to that in the
UK as a whole, but the
sample size is too small to draw any conclusions.

2.2 The Causes

Research into food insecurity in Scotland and the rest of the
UK has consistently
linked it to low income, including low-paid, insecure work and
inadequate benefit levels. Analysis has also pointed to rising food
prices, as well as the high costs of fuel and rent, as factors
which impact on households' ability to afford food.
[9] The accessibility of shops selling affordable, healthy
foods, and the costs of transport to reach them, has also been
considered to contribute to the experience of food insecurity.
[10]

Recent studies have examined the reasons why increasing numbers
of people are turning to foodbanks for help.
[11,12] People using foodbanks are invariably facing an acute income
crisis.

Evidence consistently points to problems within the social
security system, including delays and errors in administration of
payments, as well as the imposition of punitive benefit sanctions,
as reasons for a sudden disruption to incomes which cause people to
have to access a foodbank.

Scotland-specific studies on causes of foodbank use are
consistent with these
UK-wide findings, and
have also highlighted instances of problems with the Scottish
Welfare Fund including lack of awareness of the Fund.
[13]

2.3 Public Attitudes

Recent research into public opinions around food insecurity in
Scotland has shown a clear strength of feeling amongst the
population and a mandate for action to tackle it.
[14] The research demonstrates widespread acknowledgement of the
problem, concern for people struggling to afford food, and belief
that foodbanks should not be a feature of modern society. While the
research also suggests a strong desire for the
UK Government to take
action to tackle food insecurity, this is likely to be replicated
at Scottish level. This gives the Scottish Government and
Parliament a strong mandate for decisive and progressive
action.

Respondents also demonstrated an understanding of the structural
causes of food insecurity, including: low wages; jobs that don't
provide enough working hours; the rising price of food; and levels
of unemployment. However, they also perceived 'individual' factors,
such as people not prioritising how they spend their money
correctly, as contributing to food insecurity. Such 'individual'
factors are not consistent with the evidence of the causes of food
insecurity.

To support effective measures and interventions to reduce food
insecurity in Scotland, it is critical we continue to build the
public's understanding of the causes of food insecurity.

2.4 What Do We Mean By the Right to Food?

Whilst there is a great deal that can and must be done in the
short term to tackle the symptoms and causes of food insecurity and
hunger, we recognise that some of the issues need sustained long
term action. This is particularly the case given the broader
changes in the food system in the coming decades as a result of
climate change and other pressures.

We believe that the Scottish Government, with the support of the
Scottish Human Rights Commission (
SCHR),
should give active consideration to enshrining the right to
adequate food in domestic law.

The right to adequate food is set out in Article 11 of the 1966
International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (
ICESCR)
to which Scotland, as part of the
UK, has been a signatory
since 1976.

Several countries have the right to food directly in their
constitution, or have given direct effect to
ICESCR.
Germany has taken a systematic approach towards calculating social
security benefits so that they meet the minimum core content
required to live a life with dignity. In arriving at the figure,
Germany includes the minimum income required to have a nutritious
and culturally appropriate diet.
[15]

Establishing the right to adequate food in Scots Law will not in
itself end food insecurity just as homelessness legislation has not
eradicated homelessness. It would mean, however, that the Scottish
Government and other public bodies would have a duty to ensure that
all individuals have secure access to adequate and affordable food
including the means to purchase it.

Also, the Scottish Government would be prepared to be challenged
legally on how well it is implementing policies and deploying
resources towards this end, within the limits of its existing
powers. Underpinning policy with law makes policy more resilient
and durable as governments change.

It is our considered view that this proposal is a good fit with
the Scottish Government's commitment to broadening and deepening
the culture of human rights in Scotland. Tackling food insecurity
in Scotland, like tackling homelessness, is a challenge which will
outlast several parliaments.

2.5 Next Steps

It is difficult to tackle a problem, or make a credible case for
doing so, without understanding its true scale, drivers and
impacts. The Scottish Government should therefore commit to
improving the knowledge and understanding of food insecurity in
Scotland through the development of a robust evidence base.

A robust monitoring system could include: an annual nationwide
measure of food insecurity in Scotland, such as the "Canadian
Household Food Security Survey";
[16] a bi-annual nationally representative sample of independent
foodbank usage; and monitoring of referrals to emergency food aid
providers, mapping this data to uptake of the Scottish Welfare Fund
to ensure best practice pathways are identified and shared.

This will provide us with a true measure of the number of people
in Scotland facing both acute and chronic food insecurity and make
it possible to determine the impact of measures taken to reduce
these.

We should also gather data from a representative sample of
emergency food providers to understand local trends and assess the
impact of local interventions.

We should monitor the factors which contribute to food
insecurity, including: the price of food and wider essentials;
social security changes; and rates of employment and pay.

While it will be a couple of years before we have reliable
baseline population data on household food insecurity in Scotland,
once this is in place the Scottish Government should set stretching
targets for reducing food insecurity and hunger. Ideally, this data
would be gathered annually as part of the Scottish Health Survey,
allowing robust year on year comparisons. The data should enable
estimates of the number of children and the percentage of in-work
households affected by food insecurity as well as disaggregating
food insecurity by gender, as there is evidence that women, and
lone parents in particular, are disproportionately affected.

While some fluctuations in the levels of household food
insecurity will clearly be attributable to wider changes in the
Scottish economy and external influences such as food price
volatility, it should be possible to directly monitor the impact of
policy interventions on reducing household food insecurity.

Comparisons between Scotland and other countries are also worth
considering although these may prove difficult, depending on the
choice of survey instrument. The
FAO
report
[17] uses the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (
FIES)
scale.
[18] On this measure the
UK sits in the bottom
half of European Union member states and below countries with
significantly lower Gross Domestic Product. Given that the
UK (according to the
FAO
figures) has a level of household food insecurity around twice as
high as Germany and the Netherlands and almost three times higher
than Sweden, it would be reasonable to set stretching targets for
Scotland.

The Scottish Government, and those involved in responding to
food insecurity, should learn from international best practice to
devise appropriate interventions in Scotland.

Recommendations

3. The Scottish Government should explore how the right to food
can be enshrined within Scots Law.

4. The Scottish Government should introduce and fund a robust
system to measure food insecurity in Scotland, alongside wider
measures of poverty.

5. The Scottish Government, having established reliable
population data on household food insecurity, should set stretching
targets to reduce it and explore how these could be integrated
within the National Performance Framework.

6. The Scottish Government should lead in communicating clearly
and consistently the causes of food insecurity as identified by
research.

Commitment

ii. We will continue to challenge the stigma of poverty and
raise awareness of the structural causes of food insecurity.

'We were working for an agency and they didn't call us for two
weeks. So I had to find another job. I don't know why they just
didn't call. We waited, but we needed to work and they [did] not
call for us. The agency didn't tell us why.' (Aleksander and
Elena)

'Over the last two month I was sanctioned by the
DWP.
Basically I've had no income, no means of getting food so I've been
relying on the foodbank and stuff like that, and see if it wasn't
for them, basically I'd have nothing at all.' (David)

Quotes from "Hard Choices: Reducing the need for food banks in
Scotland", Child Poverty Action Group, 2015, and "Making the
Connections: A study of emergency food aid in Scotland", The
Poverty Alliance, 2015